Stockist Spotlight: Browne's Temperance Bar

RAISE YOUR GLASSES...

Could you please take a moment to introduce yourself to my readers who may not have come across your brand before….

Hi, I’m Steven Philip Brown, proprietor of Browne’s Temperance Bar (BTB) - a travelling vintage non-alcoholic bar, serving traditional refreshments and confectionery. We serve delicious traditional sodas and sweets from customised vintage steamer trunks. The cordials we use are produced in the time-honoured tradition of botanical brewing with the finest natural ingredients. Drinks include nostalgic classics such as Sarsaparilla, Dandelion & Burdock and Cream Soda, plus many other refreshing flavours. We also provide Shave Ice – a delicious traditional ice based refreshment - made by shaving a block of ice and adding a drizzle of flavoured syrup

When did Browne’s Temperance Bar get started as a business and what were the main ideas behind setting the business up?BTB came into fruition just over a year ago when I came across the last original temperance bar - Fitzpatrick’s (our drinks supplier) - in a video on the web. I had never heard of temperance bars before so did some research and found it such an interesting concept that could be so unique for weddings and events. With having so little choice in soft drinks these days Fitzpatrick’s drink range was so appealing in terms of choice.

With more and more people giving up drink I believed a non-alcoholic bar would appeal to the teetotal market, including people who didn’t drink for religious reasons but could also cater for drivers and kids at alcoholic weddings. I can understand why the idea might take a little getting used to – Britain can seem very alcohol-orientated, and although I’m not a teetotaler, having a more interesting choice of non-alcoholic refreshments at events is great way to make non-drinkers feel part of the fun.

The main ideas behind the aesthetics of the bar were from researching the early period of temperance bars (late 19th century). I was brought up in traditional sweet shops and ice cream parlours so the choice of sweets and drinks had to be nostalgic. Fitzpatrick’s brand came hand in hand with the BTB brand and I found a super designer in Brighton - Jon May who translated my ideas perfectly. Vintage is huge right now so it made sense to go down the traditional route. Visions of how I could develop the travelling aspect of the bar made think of old Apothecaries and travelling medicine men from westerns. This is where I came up with the vintage steamer trunks. Everything seemed to come together perfectly, although there has been lots of tweaking over the year to get it to this stage

Why do you think your bar is a great option for couples planning their wedding?

As I mentioned earlier it would perfect for a teetotal wedding - my first wedding was a Quaker wedding. The bar would also work alongside an alcoholic one or as I am finding with a lot of bookings, certain parts like ‘Shave Ice’ are great as fillers at weddings, say between the ceremony and the reception when the bride and groom are having their photographs taken or as a desert after the meal.

Which is your favourite flavour cordial that you serve and why?

My favourite flavour has to be Dandelion & Burdock as it evokes so many childhood memories. Quite a few of the drinks are nostalgic but this one in particular. It has been dubbed, ‘time travel in a bottle’.

Could you tell us more about the refreshment and sweet packages that you provide?

We do 4 packages, firstly the basic Single Package (£4 per guest) which is either sodas OR shave ice. The next package up is the Refreshments & Confectionery Package (£5 per guest, which is the choice of sodas OR shave ice for your guests with sweets. The third package we do is the Refreshments Package (£6 per guest), which is BOTH vintage sodas and shave ice. Lastly we have the Full Package (£6 per guest), which is sodas, shave ice and sweets. All packages are based on price per head with one voucher per refreshments for each guest up to 3hrs servings depends on amount of guests. There is a minimum booking fee of 70 guests so if you have less than 70 you have more refreshments to give out. We cater for bespoke wedding so feel free to contact us for special requirements.

Are there any future projects that you would like to share with my readers?

I’m looking into opening a dry bar in the new year with the same traditional feel somewhere in the North East. I also have plans for an alcoholic travelling bar.

What are you hoping to achieve in the next 12 months?

I’m hoping to achieve the above and more

Setting up any new business can be a challenging experience. What is the best business advice you have ever received? Do you have any words of wisdom yourself for fellow suppliers looking to set up their own stores?To state the obvious, you get what you put in! Things won’t come to you, you must go out and find it. Learn by your mistakes. You’ll always do it twice but never three times! Don’t be afraid to do something different. It can be daunting and disheartening sometimes but it will pay off in the end. I’m a photographer and you may see this creative side in my work but I really didn’t want to compete in the over saturated wedding photography market so that’s why I did something unique!Photo Credits: Thank you to Sally T Photography for the wonderful photos (http://www.sallytphotography.com/)